Her Inception
by darkwriter14
Summary: Without any intention in mind, Dom Cobb had planted the seed of Inception into Ariadne's mind and heart the moment they met.  Because of her inception, she will stop at nothing to bring him back to reality.  Continued from the movie, T just to be safe.
1. Chapter 1

Hello, everyone! It's darkwriter14! I have now seen the movie Inception twice, and I love love LOVE it! I couldn't help coming up with a fanfic for it! :D So, I've noticed that most fictions on here are Ariadne/Arthur centric, so I'm not sure how many viewers I'm gonna get. xD However, I can't get it off my mind that these two are my favorite pairing. To those taking the time to read this, enjoy! I hope to add more (once I get an idea, though! I was completely winging it at first!)!

/I regret to say, I own no rights to the film _Inception_./

When Ariadne awoke on the plane to find her employer, Dom Cobb, still out for the count, she felt the breath being squeezed out of her. Panic, pure and strong as a river, coursed through her so intensely that she felt nausea turning her stomach upside-down. She turned towards the window with a hand over her mouth, wanting to look anywhere; anywhere but at him; anywhere that still held the possibility of her turning around and finding him blinking dazedly to clear away a fog of sleep.

_Calm down, just calm down!_ she told herself as she tried to snap into a line of rational thought again. _He could wake up at any minute! Remember: time moves slower in dreams. He could be awake _now_ for all you know! _Using this logic as a buoy to hold her head above the black water that seemed to surround her, Ariadne yanked out her line, took a deep breath, and turned around to look at Cobb again, leaning back in his seat, breathing evenly—

—and still asleep.

Her sweat-clad fingers shook as she fumbled for the pocket of her jeans, searching for her totem. She jerked open the tray table from the arm rest, setting the chess piece down and flicking it harshly with her fingers. Going against the most sane and reasonable survival rules of the real world, she wished and hoped against hope that the piece would fall in the direction she had pushed, prove that she was in a dream that she could easily control, could easily wake up from with the right kick.

Ariadne could barely suppress a scream of frustration and agony when the loaded bishop fell away from the direction of her fingers, throwing her back into the harsh world of unchangeable reality. The auburn-haired woman grabbed the piece in one hand and thrust it back into her pocket, shaking in her hardly contained pain.

Cobb was still dreaming in limbo, and she had absolutely no way of knowing what was going on or what he had decided. She had no way of knowing whether her had given up on reality and embraced a dream world where his family was together again, where no chains bound him from reaching Mal or his precious kids ever again. She had no idea if he had found Saito yet, convinced him he was still dreaming—

Ariadne sat up straight, her head whipping behind her to find Saito. He was awake, pulling the line out of his arm and blinking groggily. He had just woken up, a few minutes after everyone else. With hope rising like a sail within her, Ariadne turned to look at Cobb again, eager to see those even, intelligent eyes looking at her in the waking world, no longer in a world of sleep.

But he still slept. Her hope deflated like a popped balloon, and she put her head in her hands, groaning softly. Why did this matter so much, anyway? He was just her employer, maybe even her trainer when it came to understanding and building a dream, and maybe even her friend. But she couldn't deny the fact that she felt more than that resonating deep within her, the feeling that he was a very important person in her life.

Ariadne lifted her head and propped her elbows on the tray table, leaning her head on her hand and gazing at him and tracing the line still connected to his wrist with her eyes. Bad things had broken him, probably beaten him until he was unrecognizable after the ordeal with Mal. Yet he still entered the dream world, still stood tall, was still confident and brazen in everything he did. She respected the strong man she had seen nearly every day while planning the inception of Robert Fischer's mind. Even through the secrets he had kept, she had never lost that respect.

As for the dream world, it was unremarkable. It was unlike anything Ariadne had seen before, and it made her want to run almost as much as it made her want to stay. Every time she closed her eyes, she was hunted and chased by projections that wanted to kill her or one of her friends and team members; the worst of them being Cobb's ex-wife, who had gutted her with a knife on only her second lesson in the world of dreams. Cobb's subconscious was dangerous, a liability to them all, and no one had ever known except Ariadne. By bringing her into his world, Dom Cobb had endangered her life.

And yet…she still felt that feeling…that feeling that she was having trouble denying and pushing away more and more as each day passed. Like a virus, like inception, it was taking her over, pushing and pushing at her until she was no longer the same person she used to be.

Ariadne sighed and fidgeted, wanting to turn away from him. But she was trapped, all because of that first day when a small seed of curiosity and intrigue had taken root in her brain; intrigue at the man who had offered her a job and started off with nothing more than telling her to draw him a maze.

Her feelings of love were undeniable, and they would not rest until he was back in this world. He might hate her for forcing him to return, and her feelings would most likely be unrequited to say the least. No matter the consequences, though, she would bring him back. Ariadne would bring Dom Cobb back to reality.

Yeah, I didn't take a whole lot of time to edit. And it's not really that long as far as first chapters go. :p Please review!


	2. Chapter 2

Yay! Onto chapter 2(finally)! Sorry for the long wait, you guys! I had the most MAJOR case of writers block everywhere and just couldn't find the creativity to keep going! xD But, loving _Inception_ as much as I do and being so encouraged by the positive reviews, I had to continue. I finally just winged it and pushed through this chapter with no real idea where I'm going. I now have a good, stable plan, so it should be good from here on out. Anyway, sorry if it's boring and maybe a little short. There always has to be one of those chapters, right?

/I regret to say that I own no rights to the film _Inception_./

Ariadne was snapped back from her inner wandering thoughts by a light touch on her shoulder. Her head snapped up, and she found Arthur looking down at her with a wry smile. Dark circles lay under his eyes from his recent sleep, and his normally perfect hair was in a slight disarray. "It's like you told me, remember?" Arthur said as he looked down into her eyes. "He'll be fine."

After a moment, Ariadne gave a single, slow nod that didn't seem affirmative in the least. Her troubled gaze broke from Arthur's and traveled once more over to rest on the sleeping Cobb. She failed to notice that Arthur's hand remained on her shoulder a moment more before he removed it with a near-silent sigh. _Forget about it, Arthur, _he told himself with a small, bitter smile. _And God knows I don't need another reason for Eames to give me a hard time._

Saito, meanwhile, had begun to make his promised phone call. A frown pulled at the corners of his mouth as he did so, but there was also a dignified determination in the light of his eyes and the set of his jaw as he punched in the numbers.

Ariadne sighed and ran a hand distractedly through her messy hair. She began to knaw her lip as the gears began to turn in her head. She was an adult; she could stay calm and make level-headed decisions even if things got tough. The plane had only just begun its descent into Los Angeles, so Cobb still had a good 10-15 minutes to come to. And it wasn't like it would be the end of the world if he remained unconscious after the plane had landed. Saito was making his phone call, so that could be crossed off the list of troubles concerning Cobb. The original plan had been to exit the plane separately and meet up later at a designated hotel in town, but if worse came to worse, they could always forget about it and have one of the members look after Dom.

Really, there was nothing to worry about.

Besides, she had faith in him. Dom had been through hell and back countless times in his dreams with Mal, and the nightmares probably haunted his thoughts endlessly outside of his dreams. Instead of breaking and giving in to depression, Cobb stood tall every day and continued on with the same determination to live life just as he had before Mal's death. Each time he dreamed, he always had the option of relieving that depression. He had the option of creating a perfect world where Mal was still with him and where no government barriers kept him from being with his children, and yet he never chose that. He never gave up on his real kids, never gave up on really _living_.

Ariadne could barely even imagine the kind of pain he felt in his life, but even the smallest fraction of understanding she was able to conjure up inside left her feeling absolutely lost, alone and afraid. With her perspective in mind multiplied by a hundred, Ariadne was amazed by how strong he was to keep on pushing through his life. She had never felt so much respect for someone in her life other than her father.

Then again, considering her thoughts on Cobb's hardships, she wouldn't be surprised if he suddenly ran out of the will-power and faith to carry on.

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When it became clear that Cobb wasn't going to wake up before landing in Los Angeles, the team realized that something had to be done. When Fischer Jr. wasn't paying attention, conversations were whispered inconspicuosly between seats. It was decided that Eames would be his initial companion and that Yusuf, an "average passenger", would play the good samaritan that helped Eames get Cobb off the plane in his unconscious state. The others would follow loosely and meet up at the hotel after collecting luggage, and they would see how things went from there.

After stepping off of the plane, they spread out. Ariadne lost herself in the crowd, becoming just an ordinary girl going through an ordinary life and doing unextraordinary things. People rushed passed her, unaware of the young woman and oblivious to all the craziness that she and her friends had just had to endure. Life continued to go on, even as some stumbled and lost their way.

As soon as Ariadne retrieved her luggage, she made her way to the exit and shoved her way out onto the busy walk. A ways down one direction, she caught a glimpse of Arthur waiting for a cab; down the other, she saw Yusuf already climbing into a yellow and black taxi. No sign of the others.

Ariadne set off down the sidewalk in search of assistance and asked the worker down at the small office set-up to hail her a cab. As soon as she was sitting in a moving vehicle, she leaned back against the worn-leather upholstery and glanced out the window at the passing scenery. Skyscrapers and warehouses flashed by out past the highway, and other cars and taxis-any of which could have held her friends-passed by without a pause. She tried not to think too much about the situation and possible solutions, attempting to give her exhausted mind a rest.

The hotel finally loomed up in front of her, and she allowed herself a smile of relief at the prospect of being somewhere that wasn't moving. She checked in, went to her room, and collapsed onto her bed, waiting for the phone call that would call her to Cobb and her friends.

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Thanks for everyone! Your reviews were awesome, and more are HIGHLY appreciated! I hope I didn't lose any readers through the long wait! '-.- See you in Chapter 3!


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